This invention relates to a combination catheter connector and clamp, in particular, one for use with multilumen catheters
It has been found convenient for patients who are receiving frequent infusions to provide them with a tunneled subcutaneous catheter. Such a catheter is inserted underneath the skin of the patient and then into a vein. A tissue cuff is provided on the catheter near the skin so that the skin may grow into it and hold the catheter in place. A connector part is located on the end of the catheter above the skin into which a mating connector part may be attached to connect the subcutaneously tunneled catheter with an external catheter. The external catheter may be used for infusion of fluids or for extraction of body fluid for testing A separate catheter clamp may be used in conjunction with such a catheter arrangement so as to permit closing off of the passageway through the catheter.
More recently, there has been an introduction of the use of multilumen catheters in subcutaneously tunneled catheter sets. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,581,012 discloses a multilumen locking connector for use in a subcutaneously tunneled catheter set. Clamping of such a multilumen catheter is difficult especially if repeated clamping is desired. A multilumen catheter has walls on its interior separating the plurality of lumens. These interior walls make it difficult to completely clamp off a multilumen catheter and the walls are further subject to being crushed or deteriorated from repeated clamping. It is one object of the present invention to provide a clamp for use in a multilumen catheter set.